I agree completely. We were asleep when Russia took Crimea, and unprepared to react with anything more than stern words. We were not ready for Putin. He obviou

I agree completely. We were asleep when Russia took Crimea, and unprepared to react with anything more than stern words. We were not ready for Putin. He obviously saw the opportunity, took the risk, and he won. It would be tragic to return to a world where aggressive expansionism is the norm. But fighting back through Crimea would be tragic also. And it's not clear we would have the support of the locals. That's courting disaster even before you contemplate that the opposing leader is mercurial and nuclear. My opinion is that we have to take the L on Crimea, but make it clear that the world is not sleeping any more, and that Ukraine is not next on the menu. Syria is an important example. US bluster doesn't carry much weight in the world these days. But the situation in Ukraine is very different. It astonishes me that there's political disagreement on Russia's aggression toward neighbors, but if we fail Ukraine it will be squarely the fault of one group of people, and it will be incredibly damaging to US interests in the world.